Key takeaways
- Technical files (CAD, R&D) are now critical assets; securing them is essential for operational continuity and industrial performance.
- Protection of OT environments must handle massive data volumes and third-party access (maintenance) without slowing down workflows or encouraging shadow IT.
- In light of the NIS 2 Directive and espionage risks, the SecNumCloud certification guarantees hosting outside the reach of extraterritorial laws and enables business resumption (BCP/DRP) even if the IT system is compromised.
Industrial operations now rely on a growing volume of data: manufacturing plans, technical files, R&D results, and data from connected machines.
The challenge for the industrial sector: securing industrial production and intellectual property data without creating operational latency, while meeting compliance and sovereignty requirements.
Protecting industrial data (production, R&D)
Today’s factories no longer operate as isolated sites: connected machines, remote monitoring, real-time production data reporting, etc. While this model boosts productivity, it also expands the attack surface and increases the risk of data breaches. The industrial ecosystem has also become more complex. Various stakeholders (subcontractors, service providers, partners, etc.) need to handle and share sensitive information on a daily basis.
Industrial data now represents a key intangible asset, and even a production asset. This is particularly true for data related to intellectual property: manufacturing formulas, CAD/PLM files, R&D results, patented processes, etc.
The protection of production data, meanwhile, is a matter of service continuity. For Operators of Vital Importance (OVIs), inaccessible or compromised production data can mean a production line shutdown, or even a breach of critical infrastructure.
In addition to financial and operational challenges, there is a regulatory dimension: the NIS 2 Directive mandates enhanced cybersecurity measures for essential and important entities, particularly in industrial environments (OT).
Addressing OT-Specific Needs
Industrial data has its own unique characteristics: a CAD file can be several gigabytes in size, a revised manufacturing plan must be accessible within seconds on an operator’s workstation or urgently transmitted to a subcontractor at the other end of the production line, for example. The use of “consumer-grade” collaboration tools is not suited to the needs of industrial environments. Shadow IT circulates this data without providing a framework for traceability, access control, and regulatory compliance.
The industrial sector is also characterized by significant challenges regarding availability and operational continuity. In a production environment, any latency—whether human or technical—can result in measurable performance loss: an overly cumbersome access process slows down field teams, or a tool ill-suited for transferring large files leads to workarounds.
Long viewed as a hindrance, industrial cybersecurity is now able to integrate naturally into OT environments. When well-designed, it integrates into existing workflows without slowing down production lines or field teams.
Collaborate with confidence within your ecosystem
An industrial company rarely operates in isolation but functions within a true ecosystem. Integrators, maintenance providers, R&D subcontractors, partner engineering firms… all need access to sensitive data to carry out their tasks. For an industrial company, the key challenge is to foster collaboration without exposing its IT systems or slowing down its production lines. This is precisely where cyber risks lie in practice, particularly regarding third-party access management for maintenance providers (IAM, PAM). Such access must be temporary, isolated, and revocable.
Exchanging large files with subcontractors is also a key concern. Consumer-grade email services and platforms are neither scaled nor secured to handle large volumes. They generally do not provide sufficient guarantees of data sovereignty or traceability. Knowing who accessed which data, at what time, and from which device is essential in such a strategic sector.
Choose sovereign and secure collaboration
Collaborate and share documents, including the most sensitive ones
With SecNumCloud, balance NIS 2 compliance and sovereignty
The European NIS 2 Directive significantly strengthens requirements for managing supplier risks. In the industrial sector, this translates notably into the obligation to map and manage risks associated with service providers and subcontractors and to secure the digital supply chain. Using a SecNumCloud-certified solution to collaborate and share sensitive data externally helps organizations meet the requirements of the European NIS 2 Directive.
This issue is far from being purely technical; rather, it falls squarely within the realm of strategic decision-making. By hosting their most sensitive data on an infrastructure certified as SecNumCloud by ANSSI, industrial companies protect this data from extraterritorial laws, foreign interference, and industrial espionage. The SecNumCloud certification imposes very high standards for cybersecurity and data protection.
As a sovereign, SecNumCloud-certified collaborative platform, Oodrive Work meets the manufacturing industry’s essential needs for protecting its digital assets:
- Securing technical documents and sensitive data.
- Sharing sensitive data with external partners with complete confidence.
- Storing and accessing BCP/DRP procedures outside the IT system. These procedures remain accessible even if the IT system is locked down following a cyberattack. Operations can resume quickly.
Oodrive Work is one of the few collaborative platforms to hold the SecNumCloud certification issued by ANSSI (solution certified in 2019, renewed in 2022 and again in 2025 in version 3.2). It meets the requirements of OIVs (LPM), critical entities, and significant entities subject to the European NIS 2 Directive, as well as all industrial players seeking to anchor their data protection strategy within a robust and auditable digital trust framework. Oodrive solutions are also ISO 27001/27701 certified.
In short: making digital trust a driver of industrial performance
Industrial data security extends beyond the scope of the IT department. It determines the effectiveness of an industrial company’s interactions with stakeholders in its ecosystem, the protection of intellectual property, and regulatory compliance—all without ever compromising production continuity.
Breaking free from dependence on major foreign cloud providers is not merely a technical issue or a compliance posture. This quest for digital sovereignty is becoming, particularly for industrial players, a lever for risk management and operational performance, fully integrated into the overall equipment effectiveness (OEE).
In short: making digital trust a driver of industrial performance
- Industrial data security extends beyond the scope of the IT department. It determines the effectiveness of an industrial company’s interactions with stakeholders in its ecosystem, the protection of intellectual property, and regulatory compliance—all without ever compromising production continuity.
- Breaking free from dependence on major foreign cloud providers is not merely a technical issue or a compliance posture. This quest for digital sovereignty is becoming, particularly for industrial players, a lever for risk management and operational performance, fully integrated into the overall equipment effectiveness (OEE).
